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Re: Who pays taxes at check-in? (by Hank J.):

annec15 wrote:

jayjay wrote:

After having owned 9 timeshare weeks and performed 25+ exchanges throughout the last several years, I have never heard of anyone paying any sort of taxes at check-in.

Apparantly in Hawaii, they charge a room tax. I am sending someone there next month and I was informed that there will be a tax charged to them.

Absolutely there is a tax in Hawaii. Similar to a Transient Occupancy Tax in other states, it is imposed on the actual tenant and is collected by the resort management. The amount is based on the value of the week and is calculated on the number of days one uses the unit. This tax was imposed by the State Legislature approximately 10 years ago on the justification that the timeshare tenant is using the state's infrastructure - highways, sewers, etc., so he/she should pay for that use. Never mind that the interval owner already is paying property tax just like every other property owner, and the tenant then is already paying a special tax on the rental car which uses the highways. It's basically a gotcha by the greedy politicians - the timeshare owner is usually not a registered voter in the state, so there's no one to complain when such a tax is imposed. It is specifically imposed on all short-term usages of hotels and timeshare facilities. I just stayed on the Big Island (in an exchange unit) and the tax on a 1BR unit was $3.89 per day. That is approximately the same amount I pay for the 1BR unit I own on Kauai.